the pen thief

I have a small obsession with all things office supplies, and in particular: pens.

I love a good pen and when I find one, I buy seventy two million and hope they never die. I love them so much that I wish I had come up with the idea for this blog.

Rarely, if ever, do I let my students borrow my pens or pencils because a) I'm selfish and b) they lose them. Or take them. Or chew on them. Or stick them in their ears or noses. And frankly, I like to be the only one sticking my pens in my ears or nose, thank you very much.

At some point in the not-so-distant past I realized that some of my pens were disappearing. Vanishing. And I couldn't account for where they might have gone. I thought that maybe I was so stressed out and tired from swimming I couldn't remember where I put them? I thought that maybe I left them in one of my classrooms?

And then one day, I saw one of my students with a pen that was clearly mine. It's a double sided number -- black on one end and red on the other. You can only get them at teacher supply stores, and I had purchased 2 at the beginning of the school year and can tell you, with confidence, that I don't know where either of them are. Or so I thought.

This student that was writing with my pen is in my roughest class. It's my 9th grade repeater class, comprised of mostly upperclassmen who didn't pass English 9 the first time - and mostly because these kids were suspended or expelled. So you can see why I would assume that someone in that class would take my pen.

So a few days before the end of the semester, and after at least 3 of my pens (and probably more that I can't remember) walked away, I confronted the student who was using my other pen. I was a bit curt with her and very straightforward and said "Ashely, I know that you have taken some things from my cart, and I would like you to return them to me by the end of the last day of class. If you do not, I will write a referral to your principal. Just return them, no questions asked."

I thought it was fair. I didn't make a big deal of it -- I just called her out and gave her the opportunity to right her wrong.

She never returned the pens. I was mad. I forgot to write the referral.

Fast forward a week or so: I'm sitting at my desk, and one of the ladies I share an office with is sitting at her desk, which happens to butt up against mine. This lady, we'll call her Mrs. H, is really messy. Often I will find papers from her students that have migrated on to my desk.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mrs. H writing with none other than, one of the pens that I was missing!!! I was aghast, but didn't say anything.

A few days later, Mrs. H is using the other pen was missing!!!

Now, not only do I feel like an ass for being snippy with my student that I thought took my pens -- the Pen Thief is on the loose, and I'm too chicken to tell her to give them back.

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And in case you were wondering what kind of pens they were: a Sharpie pen (fabulous!) and a Pilot G-2 (quite possibly the best pen ever made).